Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by CORDA Investment Management LLC.

CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,139 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,393 shares during the period. Hershey comprises 1.6% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $21,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,814,787.76. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.4%

Hershey stock opened at $187.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24. Hershey Company has a one year low of $150.04 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.